FBLA National Champs - FOX 54 WZDX – Huntsville News, Weather and Sports

Congratulations to the Huntsville High School Future Business Leaders of America.  The school club claimed two national awards at the FBLA's National Leadership Conference this summer in San Antonio, TX. 

Sean Haskell, David Hughes, and John Wachs won first place in Digital Video Production.  And, Sydney Larsen and Taylor Larsen took home top billing for Digital Design and Promotion. 

It is quite a task to win beat out students from across the nation.  These young men and women start out competing at the local level, then move on to state.  If they win at the state competition, they get the chance to compete against schools from every state at the National Leadership Competition.

In Digital Video Production, Haskell, Hughes, and Wachs were given a topic, texting and driving, and asked to put together a PSA.  You can see their video on youtube by clicking the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFki-JW_WmU&feature=player_embedded

Sydney and Taylor Larsen are siblings.  They were challenged to create a design for a recreation center promoting its values. They created five designs including a vertical logo, a horizontal logo, a black and white logo, a standard logo, and a t-shirt design.

Believe it or not, I am also a national winner with the FBLA.  During my Junior year at Madison County High School, I competed in the Public Speaking competition in the FBLA.  My student sponsor, Mrs. Patrick, heard that I was a good speaker and recruited me to compete in the event. 

After winning the district competition at Bob Jones High School, I had the opportunity to compete against the top speakers in the state.  The judges chose my speech about making connections in the business world.  I used the analogy of starting a car to being successful in business.  The connection is the most important part.

When I won at the State level, I moved on to the national competition.  That year, we got to fly to Long Beach, California for the National Leadership Conference.  There was a speaker from nearly every state.  Yet, it was the young man from Alabama that was picked as the winner.